Alexa Bourne is a teacher by day and a
romance writer by nights, weekends, and all school holidays. She also teaches
online classes for writers throughout the year. She writes romantic suspense
and contemporary romance and is thrilled to have the chance to share her love
of Great Britain with readers everywhere.

When
she's not concocting sinister plots and steamy love scenes or traveling and
exploring new cultures, Alexa spends her time reading, watching brainless TV
and thinking about exercising.

Q: Welcome back, Alexa! Please
tell us about your latest release.

A: Carry Me Home came out June 2nd. It’s a
contemporary romance set in the Highlands of Scotland. Here’s the blurb:

After six months in the city, Mary MacDougall returns to the Scottish Highlands to finalize her divorce. Because of a past tragedy, she doubts her husband Jamie can possibly love her with the same unbridled passion as before and insists ending the marriage is best for both of them. But Jamie has other ideas….
Jamie MacDougall has no intention of letting his bonnie lass go. At least not without a fight. Aye, they’ve suffered heartache, and she may be ready to call it quits, but he refuses to throw away the partnership they’ve built since they were children. Instead, he’ll remind her they were meant to be together, forever.
Can this marriage survive pride and grief to allow love to carry them home?

Sounds wonderful! Do you have a review you could share with us?

The first review I received was from a writer whose
work I love and respect, Jan Hudson. When I read her words, I actually had
tears stinging the corners of my eyes. Why? See for yourself:

If you love all things
Scottish, as I do, you’ll love Carry Me Home,Alexa Bourne's new Tease (a
short read) from Decadent Publishing. It’s rare that a book actually
brings me to tears and even more rare that I can both laugh and cry in the same
book, but this deeply moving story of a couple on the verge of ending their
marriage did just that. Mary MacDougall returns to Glenhalish, her hometown,
with divorce papers in hand and determined to get Jamie, her brawny, red-haired
Scot to sign them. Even though the sight of him awakens powerful feelings and
his touch…well, she’s convinced that their marriage is over, and she wants to
be done with it and get on with her new start in Edinburgh. But Jamie, stubborn
man that he is, refuses to let go of the love of his life and begs for a
weekend to prove that they can work things out. Can he prove that he can
change? Can they overcome the pain of the past and rekindle their soul-deep
love for each other? This is a must read!

Q: What
inspired this story?

A: Actually, the main characters in this story were
secondary characters in my very 1st book, Her Highland Champion. I
knew, at the time, that Jamie and Mary had more to tell me. BUT it wasn’t until
my senior editor asked me to join the new Decadent Tease line that their story
started to evolve.

Q: I remember them from the first book and look forward to reading this one. What is
the story behind the story?

A: I wrote this story in 3 weeks. I worked my day job,
went home and wrote for an hour at a time from about 4pm until 11pm or midnight
most weekdays. During the weekends, I would get up about 8am and write an hour
at a time until 11 or midnight (and sometimes later). I stopped to have fast food meals and to
occasionally go out to buy peanut M&Ms and Cokes. I had trouble at times,
but then I would play the Selah song I Will Carry You, which helped me get to
the heart of the story and bring Jamie and Mary to their happily-ever-after. It
was the most intense writing experience I’ve ever had and I honestly feel this
is one of my best stories ever.

Q: Wow! That's amazing! Please
tell us about your favorite character in the book.

A: My favorite character is actually Jamie’s little
sister, Meggie. She’s outspoken and sometimes annoying, but she means well.
She’s such an amazing character that she now hosts the Glenhalish community
blog on my website! AND her story is my next Tease release, Silent Surrender.

Q: Please
tell us about your other books.

A: Well, like I said, Meggie MacDougall’s story,
Silent Surrender, is my next Tease story. At the moment, I have also submitted
the 3rd MacDougall sibling’s story to my publisher for
consideration. (Fingers crossed they want Ewan’s story as well!) All 3 stories
are set in my fictional version of Glenfinnan, Scotland.

I also have 3 romantic suspense novellas set in the
UK. They are also contemporary and revolve around the fictional bodyguard
agency, International Protective network (IPN). You can learn more about the
IPN books on my website.

Q: What is your
writing process or method?

A: I usually start with a scene idea or a character. I
write the rough draft by hand and out of sequence, and that’s where I learn the
plot. In the 2nd draft, I add more detail and start to organize the
scenes as I type everything up on the computer. In the 3rd, 4th
and sometimes 5th drafts, I’m revising and adding more depth to each
scene and character. I usually figure out the entire plot details and character
conflicts (to the point they all come together) when I’m on the last revising
draft. Finally, I usually read the story out loud to catch any last minute
grammar or word issues.

Q: What do
you wish you’d known before becoming published?

A: How difficult promotion is! I love a lot of aspects
of promotion, but it’s constant work and I often second-guess whether I’m doing
the best I can.

You're doing great! Thanks so much for being with us today, Alexa. We wish you the best of luck with your new book!

Hi Alexa and Vonda,Nice interview. How long is your story and how long does it take you for 5 and 6 edits? Are you getting outside input? The story sounds really interesting and I'm not usually a contemporary reader. It's on my TBR list. Good luck.

Ashley, this story is pretty short, only about 45, 50 pages. The length of time it takes for the edits really depends on A LOT of stuff- what's happening in my "real world", what's going on with the editor, what changes need to be done. The only input I get is usually through my publisher. Occasionally I'll ask a critique partner for some help, too. The students were great!